Thursday 11–Sep–08

After a refreshing bout of Alexander Technique to start the day we moved on to exploring the text. We first experimented with the blocking of the space, seeing how relationships developed. I discovered that because the auditorium space was so intimate and small, we as an audience automatically became united against the Director. There was also a clear feeling of competition between Spectator One and Spectator Two. Spectator Two was of slightly higher status and therefore occupied a better seat. When Spectator Two enters the space I feel it would be important for him to try and dominate the space thus showing why he might be so angered by the behaviour of the Director. It’s also interesting to discover how the Spectators may react to the Director’s speech as it progresses. At the moment the major problem I have with my character is how to play him when he’s not angry. Everything my character says, he says in defence of something so it’s difficult to get any idea of how he might behave when he doesn’t feel threatened. Would he be constantly grumpy, annoyed and politically minded or is there any way of revealing a softer side through his relationship with his wife?

We also explored the more violent and grotesque elements in the play namely characters beheading a turkey and crucifying a cat. Why does Lorca include these? Is it to merge the theatrical and the real, by describing something supposedly happening in the real world in an overtly theatrical sense? What we discovered whilst trying to re-enact these scenes, is that there is no way to play them realistically.

: 23 Sep 2008 00:43 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem